Aden (Al-Ittihad)
120 Yemeni and international civil society organizations condemned the Houthis’ violations against UN aid workers. The Yemeni Minister of Human Rights, Ahmed Arman, announced yesterday that the Houthi kidnapping campaign continues against relief workers affiliated with the United Nations and international organizations, and revealed that 52 UN employees and international agencies, including 4 women were kidnapped by the Houthi group, and he pointed out that among those kidnapped were 18 UN employees, including two working in the office of the UN envoy. Arman considered that the United Nations has become unable to protect its employees, saying that its role has become negative, especially as it turns a blind eye to what the Houthis are doing.
He pointed out that the Yemeni government has repeatedly warned international organizations that turning a blind eye to the Houthi practices will lead to what is happening today, in reference to the current campaign of kidnappings against employees of UN agencies, explaining that the campaign that began last Thursday in five Yemeni cities is still continuing.
In addition, more than 120 Yemeni and international organizations condemned the kidnapping campaign carried out by the Houthi group, targeting Yemeni employees working for organizations affiliated with the United Nations and other international organizations. The organizations considered, in a statement issued yesterday, that this campaign violated international laws and norms, and the statement said: “With great concern, we followed the arrest campaign carried out by the Houthi-affiliated agencies,” which carried out “a simultaneous armed campaign in Sanaa, Hodeidah, Saada, and Amran, during which it targeted Yemeni employees.” They work for the United Nations and international organizations, on Thursday, June 6, 2024.” Civil society organizations described the arrest of international employees as a “serious violation of human rights and public freedoms,” saying that a number of the abductees “had their homes raided, interrogated inside them, and their cell phones and computers confiscated before they were taken on board military vehicles to an unknown destination,” which is “a matter that is contrary to laws and customs.” international organizations, and a flagrant violation of the work and activity of international organizations.” In their statement, the organizations considered that “these violations represent a clear disregard for all international and regional initiatives aimed at establishing peace in Yemen,” demanding “an end to this campaign of arrests, and the immediate release of male and female detainees.”
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Muammar Al-Eryani, strongly condemned the Houthi group’s kidnapping of UN relief workers, after raiding their homes, looting their computers and mobile phones, and terrorizing their families. Al-Eryani explained that the Houthi group launched a massive kidnapping campaign that affected dozens of United Nations employees, UN agencies, the Office of the UN Envoy, and a number of international and local organizations. He stated that the Houthi group had previously kidnapped 11 employees of the US Embassy in Yemen and the local US Agency for Development approximately two and a half years ago, and forcibly disappeared them under mysterious circumstances.
Al-Eryani called on the international community, the United Nations, its special envoy to Yemen, and human rights organizations to leave the “box of silence,” and to issue a clear condemnation of these practices as a blatant violation of international laws and conventions, and to put pressure on the Houthi group to immediately release the kidnapped people and all those forcibly hidden in its detention centers, and to support the Yemeni government to impose its control and stabilize Security and stability throughout Yemen.
#organizations #condemn #Houthi #violations #employees